Wow on Wednesday

There are a lot of recipes coming your way tonight! Sometimes when you mix and match, it doesn't work out, but tonight they all went together splendidly.

Tonight's entree was herbed lamb chops. The recipe comes from Elie Krieger's "The Food You Crave" cookbook. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/marinated-lamb-chops-recipe/index.html. It wasn't actually the recipe I was looking for - that one includes herbes de Provence - but I couldn't find the other one and the notes I made in the cookbook next to this recipe said "Yum!!" so I knew it was good. And it was!! I followed the instructions to the letter, except I made it for just two people with one large chop apiece.

To go with that, I made a spinach salad, using a recipe to make spiced pecans but otherwise just putting in what I want. I've mentioned the spiced pecans before, in an Asian Pear salad. I didn't make that salad, just the nuts, using the canola oil, pecans, sugar, cinammon and cayenne pepper. Here's the whole recipe: http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/748680-Asian-Pear-Salad. On top of the spinach, I put one thinly sliced plum tomato, some crumbled feta cheese (I would have preferred goat cheese, but the goat cheese in my refrigerator was, shall we say, blue cheese) and the pecans. I made a maple-mustard vinaigrette I gleaned from my Eatingwell cookbook. Recipe here: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/maple_mustard_vinaigrette.html. It went really well with everything in the salad.

For dessert, I used up some of the extra shortcake recipe I posted yesterday and made a tiramisu trifle in Sandra Lee's "Semi-Homemade Desserts 2" cookbook. I haven't been able to find the exact recipe online to link to, but I changed a few things anyway so here's what I did:

1. Combine 3 cups milk (fat-free) with one 6-serving box of instant vanilla pudding mix (fat free-sugar free). Whisk for two minutes, then let stand about 3 minutes or until thick. Stir in mascarpone cheese (recipe calls for an 8 oz container... I had used some already so was short of the full container by two or three good-sized spoonfuls. It didn't seem to make any difference). Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until smooth.

2. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup boiling water with 2 teaspoons instant espresso crystals. Add 6 tablespoons liqueur - the recipe calls for Kahlua. I had on hand a bottle of a chocolate-hazelnut no-name liqueur and I used that. Set aside the hot mixture.

3. Spoon the vanilla pudding mixture into the bottom of a trifle dish to cover the bottom. Add leftover shortcake - cubed to bite-sized and dunked into the coffee/liqueur mixture - on top of the pudding. Spoon thawed Light whipped topping on top of the shortcake.

4. Repeat step 3 until you either run out of one or more of the ingredients or run out of room in the trifle dish.

5. Dust top with cocoa powder.

6. Eat and say YUM!!